Steve Cummings suffers fracture in Tour of Britain crash

Steven Cummings (Dimension Data) spent the night in hospital on Wednesday night following a crash on stage five of the Tour of Britain.

The 38-year-old crashed with 50km to go on the stage to Birkenhead, which was eventually won by Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) with Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) taking the overall lead.

Cummings was immediately attended to by medical staff and was transported to hospital for further investigation. His Dimension Data team have yet to confirm where the fracture is and the extent of its severity.

The 2016 overall winner of the Tour of Britain was racing on home roads on the Wirral Peninsula on Wednesday, and thanked fans for their support in a statement released by his team.

“It was really cool to see everyone today, I knew every road, and the support myself and the team received was fantastic," Cummings said.

“To everyone that’s sent in messages of support I’d just like to say a big thanks and the message from me is that I’m fine.”

Cummings has suffered bad luck with injuries in recent years. He already spent time off the bike this season after breaking a collarbone at the Tour of the Basque Country, and had a horrendous crash at the same race in 2017.

At the 2017 Tour de France he also fractured two vertebrae in a crash in the Alps, but was able to complete the race.

A two-time Tour stage winner, Cummings has not taken a race victory since 2017 having struggled for form and was a surprise call up to the Dimension Data squad for the Tour de France this year.

Cummings is out of contract with Dimension Data after this season, and has yet to confirm a new team for 2020.